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Shortly thereafter Devadatta asked The Buddha to retire and let him take over the running of The Sangha. The Buddha retorted that he did not even let his trusted disciplesSāriputta or Moggallāna run The Sangha, much less one like him, who should be vomited like spittle, and he gave a special act of publicity about him, warning the Monks that he had changed for the worse.

Ajātasattu then gave mercenaries to Devadatta who ordered them to kill The Buddha, and in an elaborate plan to cover his tracks he ordered other men to kill the killers, and more to kill them and so on, but when they approached The Buddha they were unable to carry out their orders, and were converted instead.

Devadatta then decided to create a schism in the order, and collected a few Monk friends, and demanded that The Buddha accede to the following rules for the Monks: they should dwell all their lives in the forest, live entirely on alms obtained by begging, wear only robes made of discarded rags, dwell at the foot of a tree and abstain completely from fish and flesh.

To understand fully the deep envy and hatred that Devadatta had towards the Buddha, we must look back in history to their first encounter. In the Seri Vanija Jataka, the Buddha revealed that many lifetimes before, Devadatta and He were both born as traveling merchants. Devadatta, who was an unscrupulous merchant, was traveling selling his wares when he was accosted by a poor peasant woman who did not have any money but needed merchandise. However, she had in her kitchen a large pot which was old and discolored. Asking her granddaughter to bring forth the pot, she handed it to Devadatta and asked him to value it and give them merchandise in exchange for its value. On receiving the heavy pot, Devadattarealized that this was no ordinary vessel. It was a pot of gold, the value of which was greater than all the merchandise he carried in his cart. He also realized that neither the old lady nor her grand-daughter was aware of its value. Pretending that it was a valueless old pot he handed it back and ridiculed them for suggesting such a trade. His plan was to come back later and offer them a small amount of money, far less than the true value of the pot, and make it out to be an act of compassion that he had performed to help them.

Shortly after, our Bodhisatta visited the same hut to sell His merchandise. The old woman once again brought out the discolored old pot and requested a trade for the merchandise that she needed. The Bodhisatta, realizing the value of the pot, informed the old woman that this was a golden vessel, the value of which exceeded all his merchandise. He then offered all his wares in exchange for the pot. The grateful old woman thanked the Bodhisatta for His honesty and informed Him of the ridicule to which they had been subject by the former merchant. She then handed the pot over to him.